Virat Kohli has played 13 Tests in Australia, scored over 1300 runs, and smashed six centuries, but did you know that the inning closest to his heart was the one India lost? Yes, Kohli has rated his knock of 123 in Perth during the 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy as the greatest he’s ever played in Australia. Only four Indian batters have scored a century in a Test match at Perth – WACA and Optus Stadium – namely Sunil Gavaskar, Mohinder Amarnath, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, all four innings coming in testing conditions.
Perth is considered the world’s fastest and bounciest venue, with batters enduring a tough time. Hence, Kohli rating his knock at the top of the latter doesn’t come as a surprise at all. Kohli’s maiden Test century at Adelaide in 2012, the twin centuries at the same ground four years later also stand the test of time, but that he has given the honour to his outing at Perth speaks a lot about how tough it is to bat in those conditions. In fact, Kohli called that surface the toughest he has ever batted on.
‘The toughest pitch I ever batted on’
“My best knock in Australia will definitely be my 100 at Perth. 2018-19 series that we played. I thought that was the toughest pitch that I played on in Test cricket. It was great to get a hundred on that tour,” Kohli said while answering Mohammed Siraj’s question in a video uploaded by the BCCI titled “Ask the Next One”.
Unfortunately, India went on to lose the Test match six years ago by an innings and 146 runs. But the setback was short-lived as India bounced back from the defeat to win the Melbourne Test and eventually the series to register their first-ever Test triumph in Australia. Barring the Perth knock, Kohli couldn’t really get going in the series, but he would take it any day if that meant that the series belong to India.
Incidentally, India and Kohli himself will be keen to muster the same energy, courage and score… and then some, as Perth is the venue for the series opener of the five-Test affair. Historically, the very mention of Perth has stuck fear and intimidation in the minds of batters. However, Kohli is cut from a different cloth. In two Tests, Kohli has scored 259 runs at an average of 64.75.
In fact, Kohli began showing promise at Perth from his very first series in Australia. Just one Test before he scored his first-ever Test ton, Kohli looked promising and confident. Batting at the iconic WACA, Kohli scored 44 in the first innings and 75 in the second, showing tremendous grit and determination even as the rest of the batters around him struggled.
